Supporting Young Children's Friendships

[elleng]

'A child walks into one of the classrooms for a drink of water. Another child says, "Hi." Immediately, a different child says, "She is my friend," as if she thought the other child had encroached upon her friendship. This was her reality. The teacher gently interjects, "She has lots of friends." These words help this child begin to see it is possible to have more than one friend.

A challenge is presented to children every day as they work very hard to navigate social waters. When noted author and child psychologist Michael Thompson came to lecture at Lowell, he said, "Children come to school to be with their friends." The scenario above is just one instance of a teacher guiding a young child through a very important part of their school day.'

http://resources.lowellschool.org/blog/supporting-young-childrens-friendships